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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Coat Sew-Along: Pre-Treating and Cutting Your Fabric

Hello, sew-alongers! (Sewers-along?) Well, I’m getting a
slower start this week than I anticipated. I did, however, cut out my fashion
fabric yesterday. Man, this coat uses a lot of it! Here are a few tips for
cutting this beast.

1. First of all, don’t forget to pre-treat your
fabric. If you’re using a wool, you’ll want to pre-shrink it in some way. My
preferred method is to simply press it with plenty of steam. (You can also ask
your dry cleaner to do this.) You can also use this dryer methodfrom the fabulous Pam of Fashion
Sewing Supply. One caveat: if it’s shared machine, like at a laundry mat, be
very careful. Residue from dryer sheets can build up in the machine, leaving
big greasy spots on your fabric. (Ask me how I know.) If you use drier sheets
at home, clean your dryer thoroughly before using this method. If your fashion fabric is cotton (some folks in warmer climes are using cotton twill), you can either steam press it or wash and dry it in a machine to pretreat.

2. Give yourself plenty of time to cut out your
fabric; about two hours should do it. You can cut your lining now and get it
over with, or wait until later in the process since we don’t need it right
away.

3. Circle the cutting layout you’re using so you
don’t get confused as you refer to the pattern sheets. It’s very easy to mix
all those diagrams up!

4. Unless you’re using 45” wide fabric, you’ll have
to cut this coat out in a single layer. (Until you get to the end, then you can
lay the skirt back and skirt facing out on a fold.) Lay your fabric out, right
side up. My cutting table isn’t nearly long or even wide enough for my fabric,
so I worked by pinning and then cutting one or two pieces at a time, and then
shifting the fabric.

5. On a single layer layout, you must cut one piece
with the pattern right side up. Then cut it again with the pattern wrong side
up. This will give you two mirror-image pieces (just like you would get in a
double layer layout). Here’s how I did this: pin and cut the first piece, and
then remove it from the pattern tissue and set aside briefly. Flip the pattern
piece over, and then pin and cut the second piece. Remove it from the tissue.
Put the pieces together, right sides together with the edges aligned as
perfectly as possible, and then pin the tissue back to the pieces, pinning all
the way around. Now your pieces are ready to be notched and marked. (See why
you need two hours to do this?!)

6. When cutting a piece or two at a time, don’t
forget to conserve fabric as much as possible. It’s easy to forget this since
you can’t see the entire layout. When cutting around your pattern pieces, don’t
cut past corners. You may need to lay another piece right next to where you just cut.

7. I ignored the pockets, and put big scraps in a
pile to cut those out later. Don’t forget that you need to cut the pocket out
four times. Remember, also, that you don’t have to cut your pockets out of your
fashion fabric. You may prefer to use your lining fabric for the pockets to cut
down on bulk. Another option is to use the fashion fabric for the pocket layer
closest to the body, and lining fabric for the other side of the pocket.

Apologies for a naive question - why do you need to pre-treat wool fabric? I've used pure wool tweed several times in sewing projects, and never pre-treated. They worked out ok.Not doubting your word, just curious.

Hi Gertie, I have started working on the wiggle dress, but for some reason I can't find two pattern pieces. A2 and C2- the lower half of the front pattern pieces. Are they somewhere else, am I blind or (hopefully not) did they forget to print them? I would really appreciate a quick response! Thank you

No, they're there. I don't have the book handy right now, but if you look at the top of each pattern sheet, it will tell you which projects are included. The wiggle dress goes over several pattern sheets if I recall correctly.

Yes, I found it! Thank you:) pattern sheets 4&5. Silly me, got all stressed out for nothing:) I love the book. It has the stuff you've been working on on different platforms, all together, on the table. Wish me luck with the gussets..!

I'm still waiting for the pattern to arrive... according to the tracking it is stuck in Chicago since 22nd September. At least I figured out two possible sources for the woolen fabric I'm looking for (my local fabric store didn't have any of the colours I'm aiming for: which is emerald green, deep purple or dark red)

Hi Gertie!I'm using 45" wide vintage corduroy, so I have to fold it crosswise and cut in half. I have 2 pieces that are 4 yards long each. Should I cut one piece at a time or cut 2 at a time? It's light- to mid-weight fabric.Thanks!

I second Erin's question, is the single layer cutting for precision purposes or because all the pieces won't fit otherwise? I'm using suiting so I'm not worried about thick fabric issues, but I don't have enough room on my table to cut single layer without most of the fabric falling off the edge. Also some of the pattern pieces are bigger than my table, since I'm not placing the fabric in the traditional lengthwise format.

I do mine myself with an iron and lots of steam (no tumble dryer, so I can't do the wet towel method). It's tedious, but not difficult. Plus you can always do a bit at at time and come back later. £21 just seems mad to me - I've already spent enough on the fabric!!

definitely! i tried the dryer method and it was perfect though i had a ton ton ton of gray fuzzies in my filter and all over the floor where i shook out and folded my fabric. oh well - a little cleanup time = small price to pay ;)

Hi! Where can we purchase wool fabrics? I am looking for one the exact color as the model wears for the photo of your coat. That color looks really good on my skin tone but no one in town carries nice wool for coats. I'd appreciate any help! Thank you!-Reynareynalay@gmail.com